We're finding this one inexplicably intriguing and we were hoping for faster progress in solving it. Seems like there's an abundance of clues in that photo...
Lance's list of minor-league Cubs is of great assistance.
The unis definitely look late 1940s to mid/late 1950s, as does what appears to be a short-sleeved shirt with a two-tone collar worn by the guy in the middle --
so perhaps, at least to start, the pre-war and post-'50s Cubs can be eliminated as candidates, reducing the list from 67 to 25:
Carthage, MO: 1949-51
Centralia, IL: 1947-49
Clinton, IA: 1947-48
Davenport, IA: 1946-47
Drummondville, Que: 1950-52
Elizabethton, TN: 1945, 1948
Erwin, TN: 1943-44
Fayetteville, NC: 1946-48
Franklin, VA: 1948
Hutchinson, KN: 1946-48
Iola, KN: 1946-47
Janesville, WI: 1941-42, 1946-53
Lumberton, NC: 1947-48
Marion, OH: 1944, 1947-48
Morristown, TN: 1959-61
Moultrie, GA: 1950
Ponca City, OK: 1955-57
Portsmouth, VA: 1936-52
Pulaski, TN: 1957-58
Selma, AL: 1948
Shelby, NC: 1946
Springfield, MA: 1948-53
Springfield, MO: 1948, 1950
Statesville, NC: 1945-46
Visalia, CA: 1946-52, 1954-56.
A birdhouse hangs prominently in the foreground. It looks to be built for purple martins, and we hoped that might be a clue. Unfortunately for the purposes of
this investigation, martins range over almost the entire continental US except for the northern stretches of the Rockies, so that doesn't narrow the list down any further.
The building behind the team is certainly distinctive. What is it -- a factory? A school? Corporate offices? There's something at the far left alongside
or attached to the building -- free-form sculpture? Some kind of Rube Goldberg air-conditioning unit?
Given the manicured lawn, the arbor, the birdhouse, and possibly a sculpture, the pic may have been snapped at a college, and the building should
still be recognizable. Unfortunately again, we'd bet there's a college in all but one or two of those towns, and it also opens up the possibility
of a college team called Cubs...
Looking forward to blow-ups of the photo...
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